There Is Only One Kingdom of God, of Heaven

Because of their pride, the Gentiles are insisting that God loves the Gentiles more than He does the Jews. Therefore the Divine plan is (they claim) to remove the believing Gentiles to Heaven where they will reign over themselves in the spirit realm, while the Jews, without the Holy Spirit, govern an earthly kingdom.

Where the Lord Jesus will be in their plan is not made plain by the teachers of this unscriptural conjecture.

It would not be difficult to write an entire book of refutation of the two-kingdom doctrine. One could prove from Genesis to Revelation that the Scriptures are proclaiming only one Kingdom of God—a Kingdom developed in Heaven that will come and govern the peoples of the earth.

The two-kingdom doctrine is a ruinous concept. It is destructive of coherent biblical interpretation and is anti-Semitic. The two-kingdom teaching exposes Gentile conceit.

Every scriptural reference refers to the Kingdom—singular. Nowhere in the Hebrew or Greek Scriptures is there a suggestion of two kingdoms, two churches, two brides of the Lamb, two temples of God.

One of the bases of the two-kingdom doctrine is the notion that Matthew is referring to a kingdom of Heaven while Luke and Mark are referring to the Kingdom of God. Which kingdom is supposed to go to Heaven and which kingdom stays on the earth we are not certain.

Notice the description of the parable of the sower, as set forth in Matthew:

He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. (Matthew 13:11)

"The mysteries of the kingdom of heaven."

Notice the description of the parable of the sower, as set forth in Luke:

And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. (Luke 8:10)

"The mysteries of the kingdom of God."

The parable of the sower is a parable of the Kingdom of Heaven and also of the Kingdom of God. We believe, therefore, that the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God are the same Kingdom.

Notice again:

And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 8:11)

There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. (Luke 13:28)

It seems as though Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are going to have to choose whether to be part of the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God comes from Heaven and therefore may be termed the Kingdom of Heaven.

There is much anti-Semitic prejudice in numerous Gentile believers. There is a deep conviction that "the Jews murdered Jesus" and since that time have willfully rejected His atonement and resurrected Presence. Gentiles may not be ready to fully receive Paul’s statement that the murder and rejection have occurred according to God’s foreknowledge (although produced by human sinfulness—God never acts in an evil manner) and that God has made His plans accordingly.

Unsaved Gentiles may be willing to believe the misconception that the Jews in their wickedness rejected Christ while Gentiles in their righteousness received Him. But Gentile believers ought to know the Scriptures better than this!

On the basis of this deplorable misunderstanding, Gentile theologians have created a kingdom of righteous (by imputation) Gentiles in the spiritual paradise of God and a lesser kingdom of fleshly Jews on a cursed earth. Such a totally unscriptural conjecture raises difficult questions:

To which body, which kingdom, does the Apostle Paul belong?

Is this doctrine speaking of Gentiles who have no Jewish blood in them (in the supposed Gentile Church), or is some Jewish blood acceptable? How about a believer who is one-fourth Jewish? Where does one draw the line of acceptability? How far back in the ancestral line must we go when determining who is a Jew and who is a Gentile? And what do we do with the Scripture passage that declares in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek?

What about the Apostle Peter? Is he of the same Church, the same kingdom, as believing Gentiles? Has Peter become a Gentile? Or will Peter rule on the earth over a fleshly kingdom?

What about the Jew who is born again? Is he part of the spiritual Kingdom in Heaven or part of a natural kingdom on the earth?

To what kingdom was the Lord Jesus referring when He advised the Jew, Nicodemus, "You must be born again if you would see or enter the Kingdom of God"?

How can unregenerate Jews rule a kingdom on earth that is acceptable to God when they do not have the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ?

If we postulate that all Jews who are new-covenant believers have become part of the "Gentile Church," and the Jews who will be left on the cursed earth have never been born again, how do we apply the prophecies of the Hebrew Scriptures to the Jews who have become part of the Church?

We know the Lord Jesus will rule on the throne of David in the city of Jerusalem. Will He be ruling in the midst of Jews who never have been born again, who are still flesh and blood creatures, not having the Seed of God in them?

What of the new Jerusalem, the holy city that is destined to rule the nations of the saved on the new earth? Is this the natural kingdom of the Jews, or the spiritual temple of Gentiles having come down from Heaven? Why would a Gentile city be called the new Jerusalem? Where would the Jews be then?

If the new Jerusalem comprises flesh and blood Jews, why is it referred to as the Bride of the Lamb? How can the "throne of God and of the Lamb" be in a flesh and blood city (Revelation 21:9; 22:3)?

But if the new Jerusalem is the Gentile Church, now glorified, what do we do with the promise to the Jews concerning the new heavens and new earth, and the new Jerusalem?

For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad [you children of Israel] and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. (Isaiah 65:17-19)

These are but a few of the questions that must be answered scripturally and logically before we have a basis on which to postulate two kingdoms—a spiritual kingdom in Heaven and an earthly kingdom.

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